A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language al-Forat news agency on Thursday that the government forces discovered 18 toys laden with explosives on the road, just ahead of the Shia Muslim rituals of Arba’een, one of which is taking the road to the shrine of Imam Hussein (PBUH) on foot.

The development came a few days after police stormed a Daesh hideout in Yusufiyah township, south of the capital, confiscating three explosive-laden vests, 30 rocket-propelled grenades and an unspecified number of hand grenades.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh terrorists began their campaign of terror in the country in June 2014.